Last Stand: The Black Mage Book 4

by Carter, Rachel E.

  “Even you admitted something was wrong.” Blayne’s gaze locked on his brother. “I didn’t want to believe Mira, but what other choice did I have?”

  The prince’s grip tightened almost painfully. “Ryiah would never betray us.”

  “There was never a key for the map, brother.” The king was shaking his head. “That isn’t even the true map. It’s in my chamber.”

  It was a trap. All along.

  “Search her.” Blayne’s order was clipped. “Continue what Mira started, and by all means, if she’s innocent, I’ll behead Mira myself.”

  Mira let out an indignant gasp. I was too numb to do anything but stand. I felt like I was outside of my body, watching this horrible scene take place from afar, knowing I would lose.

  Darren didn’t make a move.

  “Brother,” Blayne’s voice had taken an edge, “why do you think Joren sent forty warships only to renegotiate terms after the two of you arrived in Langli?”

  There was only silence, and I held my breath. I couldn’t run and I couldn’t cast, not with all of the guards and Darren watching… I couldn’t. I knew I should, but I couldn’t.

  “I’ve offered him everything our father couldn’t.” The king’s gaze slid to me. “Joren must have received a better offer from the rebels. The one thing I could never offer. A Pythian in my place.”

  I felt it the moment Darren recalled our conversation. The jokes about Pythus. A Pythian Queen. Innocent, but now… Darren’s shoulders tensed. His pulse stalled and then his grip fell away.

  The prince took a staggering step back, and then his whole body changed.

  Darren swallowed. His eyes were wide. “Tell me they are wrong, Ryiah.”

  And so I lied. I looked the love of my life in the eyes, and I lied.

  Darren took a hesitant step forward, and then another. His palm reached out to mine, and I took it. A lump rose and fell in his throat.

  “I believe you.”

  “Brother?” Blayne’s bark shook the room. “What are you doing? Search her!”

  “I don’t need to.” The prince’s lips pressed against my brow, and I relaxed. Darren was choosing me. This was over. Mira would lose. I could breathe. I could think. I could—

  His second hand dipped and found the sheath at my thigh.

  I tried to move, to catch his wrist as it caught on the scroll and key dangling from its silken cord.

  “Always prepared, love?”

  Darren’s eyes found mine, and what I saw… it tore me apart.

  I saw us. And I saw the moment we died.

  “The problem,” the Black Mage declared bitterly, “is that I don’t trust myself.”

  11

  I had watched my own brother suffer, wasting away in these cells. It was only fitting, I supposed, that I would join him in the end.

  Had I believed him at the time, Derrick might have escaped.

  I might have been able to make a difference.

  I might have been able to save us all.

  “It pains me beyond measure to see you wasting away in this cell.”

  “Does it?” I looked up through the bars. The tyrant was taking me in, an ugly scowl framing his mouth. Blayne wanted to know how I could betray the Crown.

  And I wanted to know how he could betray his own country.

  “Ryiah.” The king was curt. “You know it could be worse.”

  I didn’t reply. The both of us knew the only reason it wasn’t was because of his brother. I was the inconvenience blemishing Blayne’s immaculate plans. He wanted to know what I knew.

  “You were given more status than any female in this land.”

  Silence.

  “Is that it?” The king took a step closer. “You want more? Did King Joren promise to make you a Pythian queen? Or was it something else?”

  I took a small breath. The smell of urine and blood was, if possible, less potent than before. But then again, there hadn’t been a prisoner in the dungeon since Derrick died.

  He didn’t die.

  Derrick was murdered.

  The stench might be less prevalent, but the crime was still there.

  I lifted my head and looked the tyrant in the eye. “You want an answer?” I spat the words in his face. “Bring him back.”

  Blayne’s smile twisted. “Your little brother or mine?”

  My fingers scraped at stone.

  Blayne watched my face, missing nothing. He knew the only reason he wasn’t dead was the long line of Combat mages behind him. With Mira at its head.

  Darren had watched them take me away. I hadn’t even had a moment to explain before the guards charged, knocking me to the floor and binding my hands and legs. I’d choked, gasping for air, trying to call out to him as they dragged me away.

  I hadn’t fought. I should have—I would have lost—but I couldn’t. Not until I had a chance to explain.

  “You know,” he said, “I think you broke my little brother’s heart.”

  I’d seen it. That moment Darren found the map. I’d taken that broken boy on the cliffs and walked away.

  “The both of us are too intelligent to pretend we don’t already know your role.” Blayne cleared his throat expectantly. “You are a rebel.”

  I didn’t bother to deny it; there was no point.

  “A lowborn Combat mage, who’s half-drunk on power and ready to avenge her little brother’s death.” His tone was dry. “I’m surprised I didn’t see it sooner.”

  Silence.

  “The problem,” he said, “is that you love my brother. So whatever he might claim, I don’t believe Pythus promised you a crown. I don’t believe you would take it.”

  My whole body stiffened.

  “Were my brother a different sort of man, I’d expect you were trying to make him king.” Blayne’s bark of laughter hurt my ears. “Seeing the look on his face in the Throne Room, I hardly believe that’s the case.”

  There was a sobering pause. “So what was it, Ryiah? What convinced you to betray the man you love? Was it revenge, or was there something else?”

  I met the king’s stare.

  “You still care.” His snort was incredulous. “That’s why you want him here. To explain yourself.” Blayne paused. “You give me a satisfactory answer, and I will bring Darren back in.”

  “Give us five minutes alone.”

  The king broke out into a smile. I wrapped my arms around my chest, trying to ignore the sudden chill.

  “Ryiah, Ryiah.” Blayne said my name with a sigh. “You tell me your reasons, you tell me where the others are, you tell me every silly little plan… and I might let you live.”

  “So kill me then.” I was taking a risk, but if Blayne remembered my brother—and I knew that he did—he would know Derrick hadn’t admitted to a thing. He’d been willing to die, planned on it.

  Blayne’s eyes flashed in the dark. There was no true light in the dungeons, just a couple of rusting sconces and dripping wax. But I could still see the growing flush on his neck, the way his fists clenched at his sides.

  There was another moment of silence. Then: “Mira!” Blayne snarled the words. “Go fetch my brother!”

  “But—”

  “Tell him he doesn’t have a choice!”

  There was a rush of movement and the slam of a door.

  The king turned back to me. “I know what you are planning.”

  I held my breath.

  “Your little brother tried to do the same thing with my men. He thought he could somehow convert them to your little rebel cause, but look behind me.” The king held out his hand, and my eyes inevitably shot to the mages at his back. “They weren’t fools, and Darren isn’t either. You try something like that and, well…” Blayne’s expression turned cruel. “…he might just do me the favor of taking your life. He didn’t for your brother, of course, but with you, he might take exception. I certainly would.”

  Don’t let him get to you.

  The next ten minutes were the longest of my life.r />
  When the angry voices finally raised outside the hall, I instantly rose to my feet.

  There was a terrible screech as two bars of metal slid into place, and then the door swung open, revealing a beaming Mira, the two guards from the outside, and Darren.

  The prince didn’t even look at me; he just marched straight to his brother.

  “I’m not doing this.” His voice was flat. “You have overstepped—”

  “Brother.” The king’s reply was clipped. “This is not about your wounded little heart. You don’t even have to talk to her. You just need to stand there and look pretty so she’ll cooperate.”

  My whole body trembled as Darren’s gaze landed on me, his eyes indifferent and cold.

  “She’s going to tell us everything,” the king said.

  “Is she?” Darren’s reply was like a mouthful of glass. He was talking to his brother, but he was looking at me.

  I told myself nothing could hurt me, but his eyes were tearing holes in my lungs.

  The prince took another step forward, advancing on my cell. He stood just yards away when he snarled, “The traitor is going to give us a reason why we shouldn’t hang her from the rafters like her brother?”

  The traitor.

  It was a blow I had never expected. Not from him. Not so sudden, not before I had a chance to explain. My resistance was crumbling, and for the first time, I realized there was a chance he might never believe me—ever.

  I had known it was there, but up until this moment, the part of me that kept clinging to hope, it was breaking.

  But another part was bracing to fight.

  “Your brother isn’t who you think he is!” I grabbed the bars to close the distance between us, but Darren had already taken a step back, his head shaking, while the king broke into a throaty laugh. “Blayne’s lying about everything!”

  “Oh, Ryiah.” The king was smirking. “You are making this too easy.”

  “Darren, look at me!”

  The Black Mage clenched his jaw as he turned. “My brother isn’t who I think he is?” His fists were balled. “What about my wife?”

  “Listen to me!” My fingers clutched the bars so hard I could feel the rusted metal cutting into my palms. “Just listen to me! Blayne and your father staged the whole war.” Blayne stopped laughing, and my voice rose. I knew what was coming next. Up until that moment, the king hadn’t realized what I knew. “They’ve been doing it for years—”

  Blayne’s order cut me off as ten castings hit the air.

  By instinct, I threw up a magicked shield, but it wasn’t enough.

  Not when I was trapped in a cell and up against the best of the king’s men.

  My globe splintered, and my back hit the wall with a crunch. The air rushed my lungs. For a moment, I couldn’t see or hear anything. There was so much pain I couldn’t even breathe.

  And then there was a shout and everything stopped.

  I slumped to the floor. All I could hear was blood pounding in my ears as pain enveloped my chest.

  “Brother, you have three seconds to get that thing out of my face.”

  My eyelids fluttered open.

  Darren had Blayne pinned against the entry, a blade to his throat. The entire regiment of mages was surrounding his back, ready to strike.

  Something stirred in my chest, something besides the agony that was eating me alive. It made me want to move; my shaking palms tried the floor and I rose to my knees.

  Darren’s weapon disappeared and he staggered back, looking at his own hands like they’d betrayed him.

  “I-I don’t…” The prince looked from his brother to me, and for a moment, his expression faltered. I saw pain and anger and something like grief.

  Then his gaze hardened and he looked away.

  The king put a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “Don’t worry,” he said, “I won’t kill her just yet.”

  Darren said nothing.

  No. I struggled to my feet.

  “Now, Ryiah,” the young king said, “this was your chance, but it appears you don’t want to cooperate—”

  “No.” Darren’s command was flat. “We are going to let her explain.”

  Blayne ground his teeth. “I thought we just—”

  “She will talk.” The prince wouldn’t look at me, but I didn’t care. He was going to let me explain. He was going to listen. “I want to hear her out.” His voice was hoarse. “Even if it’s all lies.”

  “She’s a rebel and a traitor. How could you possibly—”

  “Because I loved her!” Darren’s shout reverberated across the chamber; a different kind of pain wedged itself into my heart. The prince was shaking and his eyes were rimmed in red. “She’s my wife, Blayne!”

  “Very well.” The king turned his cold eyes on me, and I saw a promise of what was to come the moment Darren left the room. “Let us hear her lies. It makes no difference one way or the other.”

  I was still trying to stand. My hands kept slipping on the bars as I struggled to my feet. I hadn’t hoped for much, but somehow hearing Darren’s plea was worse. Tell him.

  “C-Caltoth has never been our enemy.” I drew a staggering breath as the prince fixated his attention on something behind my head. Look at me. “Darren, everything was staged. For years. Your father coveted Horrace’s wealth. He knew he would never win a war without the Pythians’ and Boreans’ support.”

  “So all of those attacks on our border,” Darren drawled, “they were just a big misunderstanding?”

  “Yes—I mean, no!” I caught the disbelieving look on his face. “Those men were Caltothian mercenaries your father bought. That attack in Ferren’s Keep our fourth year of the apprenticeship? It was a ploy to secure the other countries’ aid.”

  “What an imagination you have.”

  My plea turned desperate. I knew I sounded mad. I hadn’t believed Derrick when he explained it to me before. “Remember that mission in Dastan Cove, Darren? Mira wasn’t under your father’s orders. It was your brother’s—”

  “You filthy, little liar!”

  “Mira,” the king’s reprimand was sharp, “we all know Ryiah is lying. No need to intrude.”

  Now Blayne was pretending to be gracious so his brother disregarded my words.

  “We were sent to kidnap a mother and child, remember?” My voice was rising. “Did you ever wonder why?”

  The prince drew a rattling breath.

  “I saw the girl in the Candidacy stands, Darren! Your brother was using her to blackmail the Caltothian ambassador. Lord Tyrus was the father. It explains why he was willing to betray his own country—”

  Darren was turning away.

  “—I know how it sounds, but it’s the truth. Blayne killed your father, not the Caltothians!”

  “I’ve heard enough.” His sigh was barely audible.

  “Darren, please!” I clung to both bars. My heart was right there in his hands. “Listen to me!”

  The Black Mage spun back around and charged my cell, eyes blazing.

  “You want me to listen to you?” he roared. “If that were the case, you would have said something before, Ryiah! Not these lies now after you were caught!”

  “I couldn’t!” Tears stung my eyes. “I wanted to, but I couldn’t risk the chance you wouldn’t believe me.”

  “I don’t.” His response was apathetic. “I don’t believe a single word you’ve ever said to me.”

  “You know me.” I reached out to touch his wrist, and he jerked back out of my reach, garnet flaring in response. “Darren,” I whispered, “please. I was trying to help—”

  “Like seducing me for a map?”

  He didn’t believe me. “No, that wasn’t—”

  “Tell me, love,” his question was bitter, “why every word out of your mouth is such a beautiful lie?”

  No. No. No—

  “I wonder,” he added, “if you ever actually loved me.”

  “I did, Darren. I do!” I couldn’t even see; tears blinded
my vision and I shook so hard it rattled the bars.

  I heard him walking away.

  “If it helps—” Blayne cleared his throat. “—I do believe she loved you once.”

  The footsteps stalled and Darren drew a sharp intake of breath.

  “D-don’t go!” My cry was hoarse. “D-Darren, p-please!”

  “The problem is that the rebels took away that girl you knew.” The king’s voice was sickly sweet. “She’s been hearing so many lies, she’s begun to believe them herself.”

  “Darren!” I was hammering the bars, screaming his name. “Darren!”

  “I’m done here.” The prince strode toward the door, shoving a guard out of the way that wasn’t moving fast enough.

  “I understand.” Blayne was nodding along. “Mira will handle the rest.”

  My tongue was so heavy, I could barely speak. “D-Darren—”

  The Black Mage’s hand faltered on the knob, and he turned, eyes blazing.

  “I don’t know who you are,” he snarled, “but you aren’t the girl I love. That person is gone.” Darren spat the last line as he slammed the door shut. “You are just a stranger with her face.”

  * * *

  The second Darren was gone from the room, the king turned to the rest of his regiment.

  “See to it that the rebel is in no condition to cast. I would like to see her when you are done, before the interrogation begins.”

  He couldn’t confront me in front of an entire squad, so he was going to make sure I was too weak to fight back alone.

  My hands tightened against the bars.

  “Don’t you worry.” Mira cracked her knuckles against her chest. “I will take care of this lowborn scum.”

  Blayne looked down his nose. “Just make sure she can talk.”

  * * *

  She couldn’t break me.

  She and the faceless others broke most of the bones in my body.

  But she couldn’t break me.

  I was lying in a pool of my own blood, and I couldn’t even lift my head.

  Vaguely, I heard a rumble of voices across the chamber, but it hurt too much to listen. It hurt too much to breathe.